AP Resources for Students During School Closures

We may need to keep our physical distance during the current public health crisis, but we’re going to get through it together, and I’m writing to let you know that Khan Academy’s Content team is here to help you prepare for this year’s unique AP® exam format.

I’m Adam, Khan Academy’s U.S. Academic Content Leader. That means I help the Content team get you all of the courses covering the subjects you’re most likely to see in your schools including English language arts, math, science, and social studies. Before I joined the Khan Academy team, I spent a big chunk of my life as a research scientist and college professor. I focused on biology; some of my most memorable moments are of teaching first-year college students about evolution in a course about parasites, collecting invasive plants from all over the U.S. for my thesis project, and teaching biology classes in Cameroon as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It’s difficult to put into words how proud I am to be part of the Khan Academy team and how hard the entire team is working to try and support you in this time of crisis.

Many of you may be wondering what you should be doing to prepare for the upcoming AP exams. For most of you, your schools have been closed and the usual way you’d be preparing for your AP exams has been disrupted. This message is intended to help you get more information about what to expect for your AP exam this year, and how you might be able to use Khan Academy’s resources to prepare for it.

The first thing you should know is that you will have an opportunity to get your AP credit this year and that colleges are committed to ensuring that you receive the credit you’ve been working so hard to earn. Here is additional information about what to generally expect for this year’s exams. You can always refer to the College Board’s official website for coronavirus-related updates for even more information.

General Exam information from the College Board

The exam content will focus on what most schools were able to complete by early March.

Like many college-level exams, this year's AP Exams will be open book/open note.

Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question is timed separately. You will need to write and submit your responses within the allotted time for each question. See more information about your specific exam here. We've included links to free-response questions from past exams in the section of this post that lists each AP course available on Khan Academy.

For most subjects, the exams will be 45 minutes long and include an additional 5 minutes for uploading. You will need to access the online testing system 30 minutes early to get set up.

You’ll be able to take your exams on any device you have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. You’ll also have the option to write your responses by hand and submit a photo. If you don't have access to a device or the connectivity you need to review AP content online or take the exam or know someone in that situation, use this form to reach out to the College Board to let them know.

Colleges support this solution and are committed to ensuring that AP students receive the credit they have worked to earn. For decades, colleges have accepted a shortened AP Exam for college credit when groups of students have experienced emergencies.

The College Board is taking exam security/cheating very seriously. Learn more about that here.

Exam Timing

Exams will be given from May 11 through May 22. You'll find all the exam dates here.

Each subject’s exam will be taken on the same day at the same time, worldwide.

Make-up test dates will be available for each subject from June 1 through June 5.

You can take the exam at home or in school if schools reopen.

In late April, the College Board will release more information about how you'll access the testing system, along with videos to show you how the system works.

So, how can you best use Khan Academy to help prepare you for these modified AP Exams? First, some general information, then we’ll have specific info on each of the AP courses offered on Khan Academy. We’ll include direct links to resources such as alignments that connect our material to the standards you see in your AP Course & Exam Descriptions and videos that walk you through examples of free-response questions.

General information about Khan Academy’s AP courses

Our practice material, which includes both multiple-choice and other formats, will help you check your understanding of key concepts that will be on the exam.

All of our practice material gives you instant feedback, not just telling you if you got the answer correct or not, but often helping you to learn from any mistakes you might make or misconceptions you might have.

Our instructional content, made up of videos and articles, will help you fill in any gaps you might have.

Many of our courses contain a section aimed to help learners prepare for free-response. These include articles with tips and/or videos showing worked examples of free-response questions.

All of our AP courses have been reviewed by long-time AP teachers. In most cases, those teachers also have experience working with The College Board to evaluate and score free-response questions.

We’ve added brand new material to our AP Biology and AP Chemistry courses this week to help you prepare for those AP Exams. See below for links to all of Khan Academy’s AP courses and to see how they’ll help you prepare for this year’s exams.

Khan Academy offers more than a dozen AP courses. You can find details of what we offer for each of those courses below. We've also included links to free-response questions from past exams (hosted by The College Board). If you don't see your course listed, head over to the College Board website to find more details about every AP Exam.

Mastery-enabled practice in every lesson, including AP-style multiple-choice questions, formative practice, and a focus on practice that models thought processes and techniques to prepare students for free-response questions

Mastery-enabled practice in every lesson, including AP-style multiple-choice questions, formative practice, and a focus on practice that models thought processes and techniques to prepare students for free-response questions

Mastery-enabled practice in every lesson, including AP-style multiple-choice questions, formative practice, and a focus on practice that models thought processes and techniques to prepare students for free-response questions

Although there is no formal exam for AP CSP this year (students will be graded on their Digital Portfolio), Khan Academy’s course could be useful for learners preparing for a final exam hosted by their individual teachers - find more details about this year's exam here

Fully aligned to the current College Board Course and Exam Description

Mastery-enabled, multiple-choice practice in every lesson

Articles to help you prepare for the exam, including an overview of the exam format, a guide to practicing on Khan Academy, and a vocabulary review

Fully aligned to the current College Board Course and Exam Description

Mastery-enabled, multiple-choice practice in every lesson

A series of quick-reference articles, where you’ll get a quick review of the model, including what it’s used to illustrate, key elements of the model and some examples of questions that can be answered using that model

Although this course contains a lot of resources that might help you prepare for the AP exam, overall, it’s not well-aligned with the current exam. We’re working on a new AP World History course that won’t be ready in time for this year’s exam.